


Tightrope

by whilewilde



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, I listen to Zayn songs and produce things that make me sad part 1, Multi, Reunions, The Doctor (Doctor Who) Needs a Hug, but then followed by perpetual sadness, cinema date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 07:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30102090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whilewilde/pseuds/whilewilde
Summary: The Doctor returns to see Ian and Barbara, but he’s finding it hard to say goodbye.
Relationships: Ian Chesterton/Barbara Wright, Sixth Doctor & Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, Third Doctor/Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	Tightrope

“And how was your evening?” Ian asked, casually sidling up to Barbara’s desk in the now empty classroom.

“Oh, just the usual piles of marking and correcting the spellings of Roman Emperors.” Barbara replied, offering Ian a gentle smile that practically made him weak at the knees.

As he sat up on the desk with his legs hanging off the side, much to Barbara’s annoyance, he was sure the two of them were sharing the same memory. It felt like lifetimes ago since the two of them had met the fierce Nero. It had been months since they last heard the name ‘the Doctor’ at least.

Had they missed him? Well, Barbara certainly had. They didn’t always get along, but there was clearly a mutual respect and adoration between the two that Barbara seemed to find herself missing from time to time. Ian wouldn’t say the same out loud, of course, and he mostly missed the adventure and getting to be the hero, but he missed having someone around to talk to. The Doctor was like an old friend that you never lose that comfortable closeness with no matter how much time passed between meetings.

“Do you suppose he thinks about us?” Barbara asked, suddenly very interested in the contents of a coffee mug that had been sat on the desk for quite some time.

“Hmm. It’s hard to know with the Doctor, isn’t it? Sometimes I wonder if he’s forgotten about us entirely. He wasn’t best pleased when we left.” Ian reminded her, raising his eyebrows.

“I like to think he’s forgiven us for all of that.” Barbara’s response was quiet. So quiet in fact, that Ian had to strain just to catch it.

“If he’s even still around, Barbara.”

“Ian! Don’t say that!” Barbara exclaimed, gently hitting Ian’s arm as he laughed at her sudden outburst.

“Ow! Alright! I was just teasing, that’s all! No, I’m quite sure he’ll outlive the two of us as well.”

With that, the two sat in peaceful silence for a few moments, both lost in entirely different worlds. If one could know what the other was thinking, they would realise that they were practically the same. All that heartache of leaving something behind that made them understand just how bigger this universe is ate them up inside. Neither would admit it, of course.

“Right! I suppose I should be doing some work, shouldn’t I?” Ian suddenly announced, hopping off the desk and finding himself directly next to Barbara.

“You? Doing work? There must be such a thing as miracles!” Barbara teased as Ian leaned down and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“Hmm. Well, don’t break my heart or I suppose I’ll have to go to the pictures tonight alone.” Ian replied, heading to the door, only stopping to turn around and give a mock bow, making Barbara laugh heartily.

“Oh Ian, I know you like Michael Caine just as much as I do.” 

“You know me far too well, Miss Wright.” With that, Ian walked out and left Barbara staring into space, secretly hoping the hours ahead of her would pass in mere minutes.

Somewhere, no more than ten minutes from the school grounds, a big blue box appeared unnoticed, almost as if it was always meant to be there. From inside, two figures were gathered around the control, staring up at the monitor with varying degrees of interest.

“Well, Doctor, I still don’t understand it! It’s complete nonsense! How can there be two of you?!” The Brigadier had been on a rant for a solid few minutes, but seemed to grow increasingly angry each second as The Doctor ignored him.

“My dear Brigadier, I hardly think any of this is constructive!” The Doctor replied, gesturing for him to quieten down.

The two of them had a rather unconventional relationship, verging on friendship but mostly swaying towards general contempt. The only thing that kept the Doctor in general favour with the Brigadier as of late was that this version — suave and velvet-suited — was immensely preferred to the scruffy, recorder playing, hyper-active ‘past’ him. 

“Are you even listening to me?” The Brigadier questioned, sighing as he realised that anything said in the next minute or so would be in one ear and out the other.

He had thought of asking the Doctor what he was looking at, of course, but decided against it. After all, some things about the Doctor you just didn’t ever understand. To him, it looked like some sort of classroom, but he was at a loss as to why it (or the two people in it) should be so important.

As one of the people on the screen appeared to leave the room, the Doctor finally turned away from the screen. Without making a sound, the Doctor leaned against the controls and smiled to himself, barely noticing the Brigadier.

“Will you tell me-“

“Yes, yes, Brigadier.” The Doctor interrupted him, flicking switches on the console at random.

He pondered for a moment. Would it be worth going back? Would it make a difference? Would the even believe him? Naturally, he had assumed that the two had moved on from their old friend, but there was still a small piece that hoped that they longed to see him again. In the same way that he had many companions since them but still thought about them nearly every day, he hoped they thought of him often.

“Well, Brigadier. I owe you a full explanation, regardless of if you believe it or not. These were two of my very first companions, Ian and Barbara.” He slowly paced around the controls, desperate not to make eye contact with his friend.

“Hm, well. Suppose I believe this, Doctor? Why are you so desperate to find them again?” With this, he too leaned against the controls so he was facing him directly on the other side of the panel “is it one of your alien expeditions?”

“No, not this time. Don’t worry, there will be no pen pushing for you when we get back, mark my words.” the Brigadier was unsure of how to take his statement. 

“But you don’t do things like this Doctor, especially not on UNIT time, might I remind you?”

“You can remind me all you like, but I happen to miss them, my dear Brigadier!” It was not the first time that the Doctor had snapped — especially not at the Brigadier — but he suspected that it was best not to keep pushing him.

“Right, well... quite! Are we going to ever actually leave the TARDIS, Doctor?” He asked rather sheepishly, fiddling with his hat absent-mindedly.

“Hmm? Oh, yes. You go ahead, but don’t go running off too far.” The Brigadier swore he heard a slight tone of concern in the Doctors voice, but decided to ignore it regardless. 

As the Brigadier exited the TARDIS, the Doctor allowed himself to close his eyes and wallow in the silence, just for a moment. It wasn’t that he was sad. No, quite the opposite in fact. Seeing Ian and Barbara being so happy confirmed to him that he had made the right decision to let them go, but it also broke both his hearts at the underlying suggestion that they were better off without him.

Of course, if Jo was here she would tell him that he was being ridiculous and to get over himself, which he would do, rather promptly. The only problem in that solution was that Jo was still stuck with the ‘other’ Doctor. Well, someone had to keep him company until he could safely return back to his timeline, didn’t they? The kind of person who didn’t mind endless recorder renditions of classic songs.

No, he would have to make do without her for now, and pull himself up. He straightened up, fixing his cuffs and gently smoothing down the front of his green ruffled shirt, hoping that his short pause would go unnoticed by his companion. As he stepped outside, he heard the unfamiliar sound of the Brigadier laughing from around the other side of the box.

“You don’t see these things around much nowadays, do you?” Came a familiar voice.

Stepping out onto the gravel that surrounded the entrance to the school, The Doctor pressed his back against the wooden door of the TARDIS as he tried to place the voice. Was it someone he had encountered on one of his many journeys? Likely, he thought. Maybe his subconscious was picking up on something. 

“No, you don’t. This one is UNIT property I’m afraid! We’ve had it since the 50s, although I couldn’t possibly say why.” 

Good old Brigadier, always using the UNIT badge as a disguise to get away from answering the uncomfortable questions. The Doctor cleared his throat and walked round the side of the TARDIS, frozen as he came face to face with Ian Chesterton. 

Of course, having changed his face two times since, he was unrecognisable to the man he had spent what felt like years travelling with. He had to catch himself momentarily, reminding himself of his alias. 

“I knew a man that had one of these, you know.”Ian stated, only taking brief notice of the Doctor, but saying nothing about his arrival. He had seen stranger things in his time.

Ian had hardly aged at all since they had last seen each other. He was still the same man, he just seemed happier, with a spring in his step and a smile almost permanently etched upon his boyish face. It nearly made the Doctor’s hearts ache with the pain of missing both of them entirely.

“Well, I’m sure my friend the-“ the Brigadier was cut off momentarily as the Doctor accidentally stepped on his foot. Whilst he hissed in pain, the Doctor took it as his cue to speak.

“John Smith, my dear fellow. The Brigadier is right, I’m somewhat of a collector you know.” He explained, offering Ian his hand, which he took in his immediately.

“Ah, yes. John Smith.” The Brigadier muttered, jutting him with his elbow.

“I’m Ian. Ian Chesterton. Well, it’s been lovely to meet you both, but I must run you know.” Ian was as polite as he had been the first time they met.

Of course, the Doctor knew it was all a facade. Ian was, at heart, braver than he knew and would do anything to keep his friends safe. If anyone was worth y of the title of lion heart, well, it was this schoolteacher.

“Please, uh, do tell us where we could find a Miss Wright? I’m under UNIT orders to find her, you see. Nothing bad, I assure you.” the Doctor had to force himself to ignore the shock on the Brigadier’s face. He would no doubt be on the receiving end of a lecture shortly.

On hearing her name, Ian broke out into a massive grin, a hint of a blush on his cheeks as he attempted to hide his affection by fiddling with his jumper. The Brigadier and the Doctor shared a look that seemed to say something that they wouldn’t dare to speak in front of the man before them.

“She should be in her classroom, I think. She usually is. Dedicated to her work, unsurprisingly. I can hardly ever get her to think of anything other than work.” 

As he offered an explanation, he was struck by how much he trusted both men - the one called ‘John Smith’ in particular. Of course, Ian had heard of the idea that you should meet someone and it be as if you’ve known them for your whole life, but he had never experienced it himself until now.

There was a mischievous glint in his eyes that seemed to remind him of their Doctor. It’s funny, he thought, how you should leave someone behind, only to start seeing parts of them everywhere else. Was it guilt? Probably not. He was happy, after all.

“I should think you’re rather fond of her, aren’t you Mr Chesterton?” The Brigadier answered for the Doctor.

“Well, I think you should be fond of the person you’re going to ask to marry, shouldn’t you?” The Doctor could hardly hide his surprise and joy at the suggestion.

“The Brigadier wouldn’t know, Ian. I’ve never met a man more interested in his infernal guns than the human species!” The Doctor joked, adding this to the further mental list of things that would get him in trouble when they found their way back to UNIT headquarters.

With that, The Brigadier placed a single heavy hand on the Doctors’ shoulder, giving it a single pat. This was, of course, Brigadier code for him being ready to leave. He saluted at Ian, which was quickly returned, and headed back around the other side of the TARDIS, careful to not enter until Ian was completely gone. Sitting on the curb, rather disinterested in everything else, he removed his cap and kicked at the gravel, much like he would do as a boy.

“You know, you remind me of someone. It will make me sound completely mad if I tell you... but, oh well, I suppose we shall never see each other again so I’ll just say it. We knew him for what like felt centuries, you see, but in reality it was only a few years. He was a bit of a magician.” Ian explained, looking at the ground for fear of seeing the Doctors’ reaction.

“I think that sounds quite sensible, my dear boy. After all, after some of the things I’ve seen... well, I would quite frankly believe it.” The Doctor offered him a kind smile before shaking Ian’s hand once again and retreating around the side of the TARDIS, to find the Brigadier.

He huffed, unsure of if he had done the right thing by even speaking to his former companion. They had barely exchanged a word, but the Brigadier could sense his friend was slightly put out. Tapping the ground next to him, the Doctor took his signal gratefully and sat down beside his military friend. 

The two were silent for a short while, instead picking up on the quietness of it all. London was a city that was never meant to be this quiet, they both supposed. Always full of life and noise, and the rude strangers and the reuniting at train stations. 

“Why did you come back, Doctor?” The Brigadier finally asked, breaking his train of thought momentarily.

“I suppose I just wanted to know that they were okay. I know you probably don’t have me out down as the sentimental type, Brigadier, but I needed to know that their world continued on without me, you see.” 

The Brigadier could never understand, of course, but he pretended to. The Doctor was grateful for that, at least.

“Why not tell him who you are, then? Why not have a big old family reunion?” His question was not an unwelcome one, but the answer stuck in the Doctor’s throat for some time.

“That would be most selfish of me. It’s not fair to walk out of someone’s life after you’ve changed their life fundamentally, and then pop back in when it suits you. No, knowing that they’re quite alright is enough for me. Besides, if I did it for everyone I’d have a very long list, which I suspect will only get longer.” The Doctor explained, placing his hands firmly on the pavement either side of him and kicking his legs out. 

“Except for me, Doctor. I’m afraid I’ll be around for quite a while.” The Brigadier replied, placing his cap firmly on his head and brushing off the dirt from his jacket.

“Yes, quite right too. I suspect you’ll be around for a while longer. I already find it hard enough to get rid of you as it is!” The Doctor joked, the two sharing a laugh as they clambered to their feet. 

“Where to next then, Doctor? HQ?”

“Ah, I think you’ll find the... well, it’s rather complicated to explain, but the TARDIS needs her rest every now and again. How about a human activity then, Brigadier? I hear cinemas are all the rage right now.” 

The Brigadier rolled his eyes, but decided that it was best not to argue. After all, when he was ready, they would go home eventually. That was the thing about his friend - he was always reliable, it just took him a long time to get where he needed to be because he got distracted along the way. 

As the two strolled up the road and past the school, Barbara happened to look out of her window, and smiled at the picture of the two men, both quite different ambling by. She had learned it was best to question nothing as of late. After all, there was a time when the four of the TARDIS team would have looked most out of place.

Barbara and Ian would marry only a year or so after that day, and they spoke of it often. Neither could explain it, but it felt important. Barbara nearly went spare when Ian told her about the blue box that he believed was entirely unconnected to the Doctor. It didn’t help that it was gone the next day either. Ian justified it by saying that the council moves these sorts of things all the time. Barbara thought his justification was an appalling demonstration of him getting older and forgetting it all, but how could he?

Their wedding day was a quiet one, just a few close friends at the local registry office. As they had left they were unusually aware of the man leaning against the railings opposite the building, his face obscured by the morning paper. They could only make out his wild head of curls and a rather dreadful and quite long knitted scarf. He never approached them, but he was doing quite a terrible job of pretending not to see them. He only moved along when nudged to do so by an aged Brigadier. 

When they had their first daughter — naturally, called Susan — they had to hire a babysitter during the years when neither of them could stay at home and look after her. He arrived on express recommendation from somewhere or another, and they were unsure at first. He was... a colourful man, wild blonde curls only adding to the loudness of it all. 

Ian had looked at Barbara doubtfully, but she had set him straight and what she said usually went, so he stayed on for quite well. After Susan seemed to grow attached to the man (only known by first name as ‘John’, and he had often remarked on how unfortunately common it was in London) he had no option but to accept it. When he was no longer needed, they thought it might break his heart to let him go, but they supposed he had a lot of practice by now, because it barely showed.

Of course, every time, Barbara knew exactly who he was. She wasn’t sure how it had happened, but she knew that deep down that was the same man they had met years and years ago. For fear of sounding completely insane, she never said anything to Ian, who was secretly thinking the same. They had always shared the thought that they should perhaps say something, but they let him keep the rouse up for fear of making saying goodbye harder.

When another number of years had passed, and the two were slowly deteriorating, they knew that he would likely not return. The final goodbye was something he wasn’t used to, always having the power to jump in and out of time, never accepting that there was an end for everything. A finality. Barbara didn’t take it personally. Ian secretly called him a bit of a rogue, but he understood why.

It would be ten years after their passing that he would return, in the same form as he had done previously, the Brigadier by his side. He supposed that it made sense to bring him back too. After all, they were both in on the secret now. No one else was.

The two stood around in a graveyard somewhere not far from Hammersmith, the Brigadier stuffing his hands in his pockets in a desperate attempt to stay warm. The London rain seemed to fall heavier by the second, completely drenching the Doctor and his companion. Approaching a set of headstones underneath a most magnificent tree, the Doctor squatted down and read them, rubbing his thumb over the engraving.

  
“Is this it then, Doctor?” The Brigadier asked, his voice gruffest and quieter than the first time they had met.

He was ageing, of course. Everyone was, except the Doctor. That was the problem.

“Yes, sadly. I like to think I’ve done some good things in my time, Brigadier, but this was definitely one of the stupid ones.” The Doctor sighed, not even noticing that the bottom of his yellow striped trousers were begging to get caked in mud.

“Oh, I don’t think so, Doctor. I feel like I knew them myself after all of that. I’m sure they knew too, you know.” The Brigadier did his best to comfort his friend, placing his hand on his shoulder.

“No, you’re right. They had the best life they possibly could have had, I just had to know, didn’t I?” The Doctor chuckled to himself, standing up again and pulling his coat around him, tugging at the lapels.

The two headed back towards the TARDIS, not even running to shield themselves from the droplets that seemed to fall with anger. The two entered, the Doctor throwing his jacket onto the chair to the side of the control panel and flicking a switch to close the doors.

They stood in silence for a moment, sharing an understanding between them. The Brigadier now understood why he never went back, because every time he did, he became aware of the fact that was the end for everyone. Every single one of them, and it wasn’t fair.

“Well, Doctor, you’re only human, you know.”

”I suppose that’s the trouble, Brigadier. Home?” The Doctor asked, not waiting for a response before he started fiddling with the controls. 

”Home.” 


End file.
